English Reference

Word

atheist

Phoneticsathe·ist

US/ˈeɪθiəst/

UK/ˈeɪθɪˌɪst/

Definitions

01person without belief in gods

B2 · Religion

n. someone who does not believe in any gods.

n. a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods.

“He described himself as an atheist because he didn't find any evidence for a creator.”

“The philosopher argued that being an atheist does not preclude a person from having a strong sense of morality or wonder at the universe.”

Synonyms

nonbelieverunbeliever

Antonyms

02relating to atheism

C1 · Religion

adj. describing something that relates to the belief that there are no gods.

adj. relating to or characteristic of atheists or atheism.

“The author wrote several atheist books about science and logic.”

“The movement gained momentum through various atheist manifestos that challenged the traditional role of the church in public life.”

Formal

Synonyms

atheisticnon-religious

Antonyms

religioustheistic

Etymology

From Middle French athéiste (athée + -iste), from Latin atheos, from Ancient Greek ἄθεος (átheos, “godless, without god”), from ἀ- (a-, “without”) + θεός (theós, “god”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Domain

Religion

This entry

Level
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Frequent
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/atheist

English Reference